Jeremiah 44:1-30
44 The word that came to Jeremiah to all the Jews that were living in Egypt; those that lived in Migdol and in Tehaphnehes and in Memphis and in the country of Pathros:
2 “Says Israel’s God Jehovah of Armies, You yourselves saw all the calamity I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah: there they are this day a waste, with nobody living in them.
3 It was on account of their wickedness that they had practiced, provoking me, going making burnings to other gods that you had never known,
4 I sending them all my servants the prophets, each one early, with the word ‘Do not do this abominable thing which I hate’
5 but they not listening nor giving any ear so as to turn back from their wickedness, not to make burnings to other gods;
6 and my ire and anger was poured out, and blazed in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a waste, a desolation, as at this day.
7 “And now Israel’s God Jehovah the God of Armies says, Why are you doing a great harm to yourselves, exterminating from among Judah man and woman of yours, child at play and baby at the breast, not leaving yourselves a remnant,
8 provoking me with the work of your hands, making burnings to other gods in the country of Egypt into which you are coming to live there as immigrants, so as to cause yourselves to become a thing to be abused and taunted among all the nations on earth?
9 you have thrown into the shade the memory of the vicious acts of your fathers and of the kings of Judah and its generals and your own and your wives’ vicious acts that they committed in the country of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem;
10 they felt no remorse to this day, and were not afraid and did not go by my instructions and usages that I had put before them and their fathers.
11 * “So Israel’s God Jehovah of Armies says, Here I am setting my face toward you to exterminate all Judah;
12 and I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to come into Egypt to live as immigrants there, and all shall come to an end in Egypt, shall fall by sword and starvation; great and small they shall come to an end, by sword and starvation they shall die, and they shall become a thing to be cursed by and to appall and to be abused and taunted;
13 and I will punish those who are living in Egypt as I did punish Jerusalem, with sword and starvation and pestilence;
14 and no one belonging to the remnant of Judah that have come to live as immigrants there in Egypt shall escape or survive to go back to Judah where they look forward to going back, and live there. For nobody shall get back but some refugees.”
15 And all the men who knew their wives were making burnings to other gods, and all the women that were standing there, a great assembly, and all the people that were living in Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah
16 “As to the word you have spoken to us in Jehovah’s name, we are not obeying you,
17 for we are positively going to live up to the promise that went out of our mouths, to make burnings to the Queen of the Sky and to pour libations to her, as we and our fathers and our kings and generals did in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and had all the bread we wanted and were comfortable and saw no calamities;
18 but since the time that we left off making burnings to the Queen of the Sky and pouring libations to her we have been short of everything and are all gone with sword and starvation.
19 And when we do make burnings to the Queen of the Sky and pour libations to her, is it without our husbands’ consent that we have been making cauvan-cakes to represent her and pouring libations to her?”
20 And Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women and to all the people that were answering him back,
21 “Why, the burning you have been doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your generals and the common people, is what Jehovah remembers and has on his mind,
22 * and Jehovah can no longer stand the viciousness of your practices, the abominations you have been committing, and so your country has become a waste, a desolation, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day.
23 It was in consequence of your having made the burnings and sinned against Jehovah, and not obeyed Jehovah nor gone by his instructions, usages, and lessons, that you have met with this calamity, bringing you to such a state as you are in this day.”
24 * And Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women “Hear Jehovah’s word, all you of Judah that are in Egypt:
25 Says Israel’s God Jehovah of Armies, You women have promised with your mouths and executed it with your hands, ‘Perform we will our vows that we have made, making burnings to the Queen of the Sky and pouring libations to her’; make good your vows you shall, and perform the things you vowed.
26 So hear Jehovah’s word, all Judah resident in Egypt: I hereby swear by my great name, says Jehovah, that my name shall no longer be pronounced by the mouths of the men of Judah saying ‘By Jehovah’s life’ in all Egypt.
27 Here I am going to be paying attention to you for harm and not for good, and all the men of Judah that are in Egypt shall die out by sword and by starvation till they are finished,
28 and refugees from the sword shall come back from Egypt to Judah in small numbers; and all the remnant of Judah that have come to Egypt to live as immigrants there shall find out whose word will hold good, mine or theirs.
29 And this is the sign you are to have, quoth Jehovah, that I am going to punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words will positively hold good for your harm:
30 * says Jehovah, Here I am giving Pharaoh Hophraʽ, the king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies and of those who are looking for his life, as I gave King Sidkijah of Judah into the hands of King Nebucadressar of Babylon, his enemy who was looking for his life.”
Footnotes
^ 44:11 Var. toward you for mischief, to exterminate
^ 44:22 Lit. and your country has
^ 44:24 Lit. all Judah that is in Egypt
^ 44:30 Lit. his enemy and the one who
